The present invention relates to a hand tool for selectively terminating wires to a matrix of contacts in an electrical connector.
Modular connectors of the type introduced as telephone jacks and their corresponding plugs are now finding use in multiple telephone systems and other communications equipment. These are generally used with wires in the form of flat cable to facilitate termination. The expanded usage has led to plugs and jacks with an increasing number of contacts, as well as flat cable with an increasing number of wires. Often it is desirable to have the wires in the cable which is connected to the plug electrically matable to wires in the cable which is connected to the jack in a different order. This may be accomplished by terminating the wires in the cable connected to the jack to the appropriate terminals in the jack. Principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,771 et al may be so employed to this end; these would require arranging wires for termination to terminals integral with contacts in the jack as desired. As the dimensions of the jack and cable are quite small for manual operations, this could be quite time consuming and further introduces considerable possibility for error, especially when performed in the field. A connector which would receive the wires of a flat cable in the order of their arrangement in the cable, which wires could then be connected to respective terminals as desired, would be most desirable. A necessary adjunct is a tool, preferably a hand tool, which is readily programmable to terminate the wires to the desired contacts.